Why This Mid-Cap Biotech Could Be the Dark-Horse Threat to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk
Viking Therapeutics aspires to take market share from both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, and it might succeed.
Overview
The market for anti-obesity drugs seems to be at risk of calcifying into a dominant duopoly. Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) split it through their GLP-1 medicines: Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide) for weight management, and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) for type 2 diabetes. Together they hold nearly the entire U.S. market for branded obesity and diabetes treatments. Those are the kind of conditions that may be ripe for a new entrant to disrupt the incumbents.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) wants to be that challenger. Its lead candidate, VK2735, has strong early data in hand, and comes as both a weekly shot and a daily pill. And because the company's market cap is just $3.5 billion, the stock is small enough that a modest win of market share could translate into an outsize return for shareholders. So let's investigate how and why this biotech could threaten Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
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Originally published at www.fool.com.